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I like the JD 'B'. Ok, here is my comparison of it to an 8n.... That is, a 1950 JD 'B', to a 1952 8N. OK, first of all.. as for the clutch, it uses a detent setup, so once you pull the clutch out (towards you), then you shift, then you push it back in.. manual says 70-90 pounds of force to do this... MY old baby only takes say..35 pounds, but stays engaged fine.. Clutch is side mounted in belt pulley cover, so is easy to adjust. The late B's had 6 forward gears, 1 reverse... 1st gear is pretty slow... something like 1.4 mph at throttle. The older ones only had 4 gears.. I think 1st was like 2.4mph. Mine is the narrow 2 wheeled front, trike. The rears are cast centers.. nice and heavy... though early ones could have had pressed or spoked centers.... less weight. I didn't catch the tire size, but they are tall... easilly 5'.. which you would think would kill power.. but this doesn't seem to lack any power. The chassie of the machine is more or less wedge shaped... with everything forward of the engine only about 16" wide.. so while sitting on it you have a freat view to the sides,like if you were using a mid body mount cultivator, and a decent view ahead. Steering is a worm gear setup, and steers very easilly... by using brakes and steering.. you can almost run in a circle, pivoting on 1 rear. In fact.. the previous owner delivered mine.. and unloaded it from his trailer only using 2 ramps... just backed the rears off till they hit the ground, then steererd hard left, and walked the front wheels down the right ramp.... was impressive to see.. I think my pucker factor would have prevented me from doing that... ( I have just recently welded up a heavy center ramp for when I haul the 'B' ). Early models had a pan seat, the later models had the 'deluxe' seat.. which was a bottom cushion over the battery box, and arm rails and a back cushion... much like the farmalls deluxe seats. My unit has powertroll, which is essentially a lift. As mine is equipped, the square stubs exit from a casting behind the seat( rockshaft), and there is a lever you actuate, to lift or lower. I'm not completely sure.. but I htink it is full up or full down... I just havn't played with it much.
There are no lower lift arms, or connecting arms to connect the top rock shaft to the lower arms... I'm sure these were dealer added, as needed. Pto has a flip down cover.. which isn't bad.. but then I like the screw on one. PTO is modern 1 3/8. Like our N's.. the pto also runs the hyd pump. There are 2 hyd outlets on the rear of the tractor, and I assume by using them, you are internally defeating/ bypassing the built in powertroll, as there seems to be no seperate valving.. just the powertroll control for the hyd outputs. Per the book, hp is similar to the 8n..perhaps a tad higher... 28.. though I can't recall if that was a flywheel rating or not.. overall, the machine 'feels' much stronger than the 8n ( in the same way/amount that an NAA does... so that may give you an idea as to power). This unit is a single fuel ( gas ), whereas many early ones were gas start/distilate run.. ( which lowers the HP specs ). Starts easy.. real easy... open fuel petcock, crack throttle, hit the foot switch to spin the starter, and yank on the choke a bit.. usually fires up on the second hit of the starter, if not the first... 2 cyl of course.. but you new that. Idles incredibly slow.. hard to believe..pow...pow...pow...pow.. in fact.. you can throttle it down till it dies.. but the flywheel is still spinning.. then throttle it back up.. and as long as that flywheel makes a good compression stroke, it springs to life... Cooling is thermosyphon, and also has lever operated shutters to block the radiator to let the engine warm in cold environments.. etc. HAs a temp gauge, ammeter, and oil pressure.
This one will hold medium pressure at low idle..( oil pressure is low, medium, high on the gauge.. not pounds. - and book states medium pressure is 'normal'.) Of course the whole this B is way tall.. nose bleed section... longer too.. so won't fit in the same garage space as the N, and really doesn't have good ingress/egress. Mine has no fenders, so you can enter/exit from the left side, by grabbing the tire tread with your right hand, getting your foot on the square axle, and your left hand on something else.. seat rail, brake pedal.. etc.. and pull yourself up... If I had fenders... Not sure how I would get on...might have to be lowerd down with block and tackle... or go on a crash diet... Long Powertroll lever on left rear blocks entry/exit from there, and long clutch lever on right front blocks that area. Have heard you can relocate the powertroll lever to actuate it from the right side, as the shaft goes all the way through the casting, and is blanked off on that side. So then you might have a rear left entry / exit. Deffinately not a machine easy to 'bail' off in an emergency, as you'd never clear the tires.. unless you had no rear implement.. then you could springboard off the rear of the seat and hope you don't break your leg in the free-fall to the ground. B Weight is about 4200 pounds, as equipped ( cast rear, powertrol, deluxe seat... etc.. so that gives it a pulling advantage. Manual claims nearly 4000lbs pull capacity ( was high 3.8k or something?)
Has a factory swinging drawbar. One other thing... everything you are working on, you are either looking up, or on a stepladder.. unlike the N.. where you are bent over.. etc. That's about all I can tell you for right now. Soundguy
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